The turrets of the Xenary Cruiser targeted the Republic Corvette that flew past. With a slight turret recoil, two red plasma bolts erupted from it, flying straight at the corvette. Before anyone could react, the engines were hit, causing an explosion that decimated the starship.
Through the rubble and smoke a small dart-like fighter emerged, accelerating towards the cruiser. Evading the point defence, the fighter closed the distance, with a small explosion the engines overloaded, causing the dart-like fighter to smash into the hull of the cruiser.
The tip of the fighter was stuck inside of a corridor. Slowly three armoured Xenarians approached the starfighter. Suddenly the tip exploded, sending pieces of the hull flying, shredding the three aliens. As the smoke cleared, the now-revealed cockpit opened, and a humanoid in a black, futuristic space suit jumped out, with his gun lifted. Seeing the dead Xenarians, the human took a bag from the cockpit and a rifle from one of the aliens.
Edward's heart was palpitating, as he ran towards one end of the corridor. He quickly checked the display on his forearm, if he was going in the right direction. "To the end, then left. Follow for 20 meters and go to the right, towards the elevator."
As he reached the corner, he slowed down and waited, to hear if any footsteps were coming. There were some, and as they neared, Edward leaned out with the rifle and shot the two Xenarians. They were humanoid arthropods that seemed to resemble dragonflies. "Two more down, now I should quickly head towards the elevators before more arrive."
He arrived at the elevators without any issues and quickly jumped into the only open one. As the elevator door closed, the one next to his opened and several Xenarians with their rifles lifted flew out and swarmed the corridor. Edwards sighed a breath of relief, as the elevator drove downwards.
Once the doors opened again, Edward quickly ran out and headed further towards the engines. Suddenly an explosion was heard and a tremor ran through the cruiser. "That should have been my fighter." Edward smiled at the thought of the dead Xenarians and their damaged cruiser.
Now, if one were to ask, why Edward was sacrificing his own Starfighter and recklessly boarded the Xenary Cruiser, it would be because of reputation. After all, Edward was no member of the Republic fleet, but rather a hired mercenary. So if he alone was to destroy a whole carrier with hundreds of crewmen, then it would positively reflect on his reputation and thus the money earned.
But what about the Xenary? Well, what about them, they are simply enemies of his client. And besides, after 2 years of mercenary work, one would get accustomed to killing, and emotions are for those who survive.
Edward quickly ran from one corridor to the next, but now in a stealthier way, so instead of fighting the aliens head on, he would hide in a room or in niches that littered the corridors. Without much trouble, he arrived at the door to the engine room. Stopping at the corner to take a peek, he saw two guards watching over the entrance. With his rifle brandished, Edward turned around the corner and before anyone could realize what was happening, killed one of the guards. He moved his rifle to finish off the second one, but no bullets came out. In a quick movement, the rifle was thrown away and the handgun pulled out.
The Xenarian used the opportunity to shoot the intruder before a bullet tore through his head and painted the wall green. Edward, however, did not get away unscathed, as his left arm was struck by two bullets.
Ignoring the pain, the young man entered the engine room. It was a large circular room, with computers along the wall and a catwalk over the engines.
"SE V5, position yourself around the whole room and start a timer of ten minutes!" Edward yelled as he tossed his backpack into the room before leaving. As the backpack landed, many small explosives with spider-like appendages crawled out and scrambled around the room.
Holding his damaged arm, Edward once again ran through the corridors, he had 10 minutes to reach the hangars, hijack a ship and get out.
A cacophony of buzzing sounds filled the command centre of the Xenary Cruiser. The many monitors showed various traits of the starship, alongside the situation inside. A red dot appeared on the holographic display, signalling the deaths of more Xenarians. Realizing that those were the guards of the engine room, the commanding Xenarian quickly gave orders to have it investigated.
A spaceship has three major weak points, if any of those were to be destroyed, it could spill the doom of the whole crew. Those are the command centre, the reactor core and the engines. The command centre is the brain of the ship and is responsible for the steering, commanding and general function of the vessel. The reactor core is the heart of the ship and is responsible for providing energy, with newer models having it combined with the shield generator. Lastly are the engines, the lungs of the ship, responsible for the movements, manoeuvring and most importantly jumping.
Jumping is the ability of a starship to enter hyperlanes, the safe passages across interstellar space, to move at a speed faster than light, also known as FTL. This is achieved through the use of a hyperdrive, a specialized engine that focuses on FTL-Travel.
Edward of course knew about the weak points. Thus he spent the last couple of weeks devising a plan on how to destroy a large starship with only a fighter. His plan consists of three parts.
First, entering the cruiser. For this, he bought a specialized starfighter with the capability of breaking through the ship's hulls. Second, locating and destroying one of the three weak points. He decided to target the engines because trying to reach the reactor core or commanding centre is tantamount to suicide. For this, he bought many SE V5s, special mini droids with enough explosive power to destroy a car. The last step of his master plan consists of him leaving the ship alive.
That is the step Edward is currently at. For it to succeed, he has to reach the hangars, which lie at the centre of the Xenary Cruiser, nearly 500 meters away from the engine room. All the while having a damaged arm, a single handgun with limited ammunition and, due to the death of the engine guards, an exposed location.
But no matter how his situation may be, he has only one option to succeed. Thus, gritting his teeth, he ran as fast as he could through the ship.
Suddenly, a red plasma bolt appeared in his vision. The Xenarians were behind him and missed his head by just a few inches. Rolling to the side, Edward turned around and shot two times before continuing his escape.
"Only a few more bullets. I mustn't waste them." And as luck would have it, he might not have to, as the hangar doors were just around the corner.
Bolting through, he arrived at the back of the hangar. Ignoring his limited ammunition, Edward shot every Xenarian in his way while running towards a fighter that was about to take off.
The fighter was of a brown/orange colour with a round head and tail-like rear, which was also its entrance. Like the Xenary, the fighter also had the semblance of a dragonfly.
The pilot was on the entrance ramp and about to enter when Edward shot the last bullet in the magazine. It missed the pilot by a few inches, but startled him long enough for Edward to reach the fighter. Putting the gun back into the holster, he pulled out a small knife, stabbed the pilot and threw him off the fighter.
Next, he quickly closed the entrance and started the engines, just as the Xenarian guards entered the hangar. They pointed their rifles at the fighter and tried to take it down, to no avail.
Edward willed the starfighter to move forward, but was pulled back by a magnetic pull that the Xenarians started. Not wasting any time, Edward turned the fighter around and activated the rotary cannon at the front of the fighter. Several plasma bolts tore the Xenarians into pieces. The empty cartridges were discarded off the starfighter and littered the ground. Some machinery at the hangar's back exploded and the magnetic pull on the fighter ended.
Edward masterfully manoeuvred the unfamiliar fighter and missed the walls and ceiling by only a few inches as he turned the fighter while already accelerating. With a burst from the ion thrusters, the starfighter flew through the yellow protective barrier out into space and the ongoing star battle.
Admiral Yagun stood at the bridge of the Republican Cruiser and watched the space battle. Around him, various crew personnel operated the different computers that allowed the cruiser to function. At the back of the command centre stood a holographic table, that currently displayed the situation outside. Around it, stood four officers, who alongside the admiral commanded the cruiser and currently the fleet. They were the vice admiral, rear admiral, commodore and captain.
"We have taken down one of the Xenary Cruisers, only two remain. The destroyer, frigates and corvettes of the Xenarians are mostly taken care of. We still possess all five of our cruisers, with only two being damaged. They already retreated away from the battlefield." The rear admiral, a human of dark skin colour, explained the situation.
"The Bugs are trying to encircle Ragoons Cruiser with their remaining fleet. Try to free him, as we do not want any major losses."The vice admiral commanded.
"There was an explosion in the left hangar of the Xenary Cruiser. A fighter has flown out." The captain voiced the peculiarity.
Suddenly a large explosion at the back of the same cruiser destroyed the engines. Just after that, a red blinking signalled, that someone was trying to contact the command centre.
"It's from the Xenary Fighter that just left the hangar."
"Accept it," Yagun said.
A smaller hologram appeared next to the hologram of the battlefield. It showed a human clad in an armoured space suit.
"This is mercenary Edward Norrington. Codename: Nebula Blue."